New Delhi : Former Apple chief designer Jony Ive is currently working with OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, for AI hardware. Ive’s startup, io, was acquired by the AI firm for $6 billion earlier this year. Now, as the Sam Altman-led company accelerates development of its first-ever hardware products, it has set its sights on poaching staff from Apple.
Apple is working on improving its AI hardware
Apple, for its part, has been actively pursuing its own AI-driven hardware projects under the leadership of John Ternus. These projects are said to include smart home devices, renewed robotics efforts, potentially AI-powered AirPods with cameras, and smart glasses.
The sudden loss of experienced engineers to OpenAI could affect Apple’s ability to deliver on these ambitions, especially as the company navigates a competitive landscape for advanced hardware design and AI integration. The report also states that Apple is not happy with the way it is losing key staff members to the AI company.
Apple has also fallen behind in the AI race, particularly when it comes to personal assistants. The Cupertino giant has reportedly agreed to pay $1 billion to Google for a Gemini-powered Siri, which is set to debut next year.Why is OpenAI poaching Apple staff?
According to Bloomberg, OpenAI has hired over 40 people from Apple for the hardware division in just the past month. The report indicates the new hires include not only high-level directors and managers, but also numerous engineers from almost every key Apple hardware department.
Previously, Jony Ive’s design studio, LoveFrom, was also staffed with mostly former Apple employees.
After OpenAI’s acquisition of Jony Ive’s startup, Altman and Ive had hinted that the company’s first AI hardware products could debut in 2026. The influx of former Apple employees is notable for its breadth and depth. Former Apple industrial design head Evans Hankey and hardware engineering executive Tang Tan are among those who have joined OpenAI’s hardware projects.
The expertise of the recruits could give OpenAI a major boost in its development of hardware projects. So far, the ChatGPT maker has not launched its own hardware.
